Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Matisse and Artistic Exploration

Henri Matisse came from an extrodinary time in art history when the world was in a great deal of flux.  Picasso was out there doing his thing but Matisse wanted to create art that had no angst.  He wanted it to be joyful and as comfortable as "an old arm chair".

While that doesn't conjure up any visions or beauty to me really - I don't like the looks of an old arm chair I guess...but the comfort one provides is pretty nice.

Matisse painted realistically in the first part of his career.  Wonderful oil paintings; vibrant still life paintings and others. 

I think this is the way all artists start.  Learning to create what you see - not what your mind interprets as what you see.  It isn't until many years later, usually...that sometimes, the way an artist creates and what their creations look like begins to change into what could be described as "a style" - one that is truly original to that particular artist.

Many times when an artist begins and is popular early in their career, their staunchest supporters; friends, spouses, gallery owners - are resistant to this natural evolution of their artistic style.  It is very human to be resistant to change...after all.

Let me share with you a sample of Matisse's early art works and art that we would not have of Matisse's today if his style had never evolved. (These images represent his work over 63 years of creating and is only a sample of all he created in increments of approximately every 5 years),

And just as a side note:  that his style changed over the years has not decreased the value of the original works he created, but rather made them an invaluable record of his artistic journey, and thereby invaluable works to the collectors of his works.

 
 
These works span the years of approximately 1889 to 1952.  Two works are from 1943; the cutout called Fall of Icarus and the painting Tulips and Shellfish on a Dark Background.
 
A great many of these images came from the Wikiart website.  They are doing great things bringing the art world to all of us on the World Wide Web.  I hope you will visit their site and check it out.  I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you showed them some love and sent them some coffee money.
 
Well - that's all for today.  Wishing you an evolutionary day!
 
'Til tomorrow
 
 
~Alex